Batman: Movie Legends
by Gothamite
Summary: Set in the continuity of the first two Batman Movies, Batman comes face to face with Catwoman after her mysterious disappearance in Batman Returns, all the while squaring off with Bane and Rupert Thorne.


BATMAN: Movie Legends  
  
By Robert O' Connor  
  
Description: A story set in the same continuity as the first two Batman Movies. Batman comes face to face with Catwoman after her mysterious disappearance in Batman Returns.  
  
Rated:  
  
Submitted: February 04  
  
Batman: The Movie, is simply one of the best comic-book adaptations ever. I would call it THE best, but then I would be forgetting the likes of Superman: The Movie, and Spiderman: The Movie, but it is definitely in a joint first place with the other two mentioned.  
  
Now when Batman: Forever came out, I was disgusted. Who did this Joel Schumacher think he was? He ruined Tim Burtons' masterpiece(s)! And then the woeful Batman and Robin just ruined the franchise altogether.  
  
Even after these jokes-of-movies, I will never forget the sinister laugh of Jack Nicholson, the cold eyes of Danny De Vito, and most of all, the sexy purr of Michelle Pfeiffer.  
  
So here's a story, set in the continuity of the first two films. When you're reading it, picture Michael Keaton's face as Bruce Wayne, and the legendary Michael Gough as Alfred. And of course, Michelle Pfeiffer as the timeless Catwoman. Try to hear Danny Elfman's original music for Batman, and try to picture the grim, gloomy Gotham City, as designed by Anton Furst.  
  
P.S: The boy wonder is still absent, but might just appear in a sequel...  
  
A plastic bag floated in the wind, elegantly. It hit against a shiny leather boot that led up to the body of a gigantic muscle bound man. The man wore a tight leather tank top, and leather slacks. Over his face, he wore a chilling black mask, with red slits for eyes. This man was Bane. A South American mercenary who used a powerful steroid to enhance his body mass and strength. He cared only for the pay he got in return for the blood he spilt. In his eyes, it was the only way to get more of the highly addictive Venom.  
  
In front of him was a large man with wavy greying hair, sucking on a cigar. This man was Rupert Thorne. After the death of Carl Grissom, Thorne secretly started building his forces to control the city's underworld even more so than Grissom had. With Bane's muscles, this could be accomplished.  
  
Beside Thorne were petty henchmen. One was beady, and wore a sickly, toothy smile on his face. The other was short and stout, with a receding hairline. They mingled amongst themselves, while the other two stared over at a warehouse in front of them. Inside were men trying to steal some of Thorne's weaponry that Bane had smuggled in from South American factories that belonged to Thorne.  
  
"Get in there," Thorne pointed at his two minions.  
  
"But boss," the skinny one said, "there must be about twenty of them in there!"  
  
Bane grunted, and the two ran inside.  
  
The following moments brought forth shooting sounds. Bane grabbed Thorne and stationed him behind a deserted truck. Thorne picked his cell phone out of his coat pocket. He dialled an unlisted number as fast as he could.  
  
"Barney...Yeah...Get over here now...Bring the boys!"  
  
Seconds later, several limousines came whizzing towards the warehouses. Out jumped men in black suits with roses in their lapels. One of them ran over to Thorne, who was still hiding behind the truck.  
  
"I got here as fast as I could boss!" He exclaimed.  
  
"What are you waiting for?" Thorne shouted at him. "Get in there!" He shouted, pointing at the warehouse.  
  
The thugs rushed in with Tommy guns, and started shooting at the opposite gangsters, who were trying to steal the weapons. On the ground lay the bodies of Thorne's insignificant cronies, covered in blood.  
  
The sounds of gunfire brought the police into the story. Several squad cars, finally followed by a SWAT truck bolted towards the warehouse.  
  
Thorne and Bane saw the squad cars arriving.  
  
"I can't be seen here!" Thorne shouted through the sounds of gunfire. "We've got to get out of here!"  
  
Bane brought Thorne into one of the hoods' cars, and ordered the driver to get him away from the madness.  
  
Bane then turned toward the warehouse and made his way inside. He would finish this.  
  
The last of the squad cars streaked up in front of the warehouse. Inside were police commissioner Gordon and another officer. He watched as three of the opposing gangsters escaped. They started shooting at the squad cars. The driver in Gordon's car swerved away and brought them behind the squad car. Gordon reached for the radio hanging off of the dashboard.  
  
He pressed the button on it and shouted into it: "The signal! Now!"  
  
As he said those words, a huge searchlight pierced through the sky. The searchlight shone a massive circle into the air, with a bat shape in the centre.  
  
A dark haired man sat in his study, thinking to himself. Outside his house, revolving mirrors shone this strange searchlight back into his study. The light woke him up from the suspended state he was in. He swerved around, stunned. It was the bat-signal. The police needed him again.  
  
"All right! Let's move in!" The SWAT commander barked at his men, seconds after Gordon had sent up the mighty signal.  
  
The SWAT team moved carefully into the warehouse. Wooden boxes, big and small, filled the entire room, and it was difficult to see anyone. Suddenly, an Asian man, one of the gangsters trying to steal Thorne's contraband, jumped out of the shadows, and started screaming, all the while, shooting at the SWAT team. One of the SWAT officers jumped at the Asian man, and pinned him to the ground.  
  
"I've got him down sir!" The officer exclaimed happily.  
  
Suddenly, the Asian man started fiddling around in his mouth, with his tongue. With his tongue, he brought a small pill in between his teeth. He bit hard on the pill, and suddenly, greenish gas shot out in every direction. It hit the SWAT officers' lungs, and they all fell to the ground, dead. The Asian man laughed as he took in his last few breaths. Thorne's hoods also fell to the ground dead, as the rest of Asian gangsters slipped on gas masks. They all laughed gleefully, while they went over to take the rest of the weapons. Suddenly, a mountain of a man fell down upon several of the men. He grabbed one of them by the head and pulled it back as far as he could. He heard a snap, and he dropped the man to the ground. He moved to the rest of the hoods. He picked one of them up and looked up at him.  
  
"You have made a costly mistake senor," The assassin said, with cruel red eyes.  
  
He choked the gangster to death, right before throwing him through one of the windows at the end of the warehouse.  
  
Suddenly, the skylight above them crashed, and a dark figure descended upon them. He kicked the assassin in the face, while the rest of the terrified hoods ran for cover.  
  
Batman grabbed the huge man's face, and whacked his bat-ears against him. He swept the floor with his foot, and the assassin fell to the floor. Batman stepped back cautiously, into a fighting stance.  
  
"What do they call you?" He asked in a dark voice, very different from that of Bruce Wayne's.  
  
"Bane," The assassin smiled through his mask.  
  
He leapt up, and grabbed Batman by the neck. Batman tried to kick him, but it did no good. Bane started to choke Batman.  
  
Batman's vision was blurring. He reached into his utility belt, and took out a small flash bang. He threw it at the ground. A flash of blinding light blew up in Bane's face. Batman grabbed Bane's wrist and twisted it around, releasing him from Bane's grasp.  
  
Bane managed to shoulder Batman in the chin, stunning him. Batman rolled backwards, and watched as Bane slammed a button on a strange wrist attachment. Suddenly, his veins went crimson in colour, and his muscles grew slightly. Bane roared, and walked slowly toward Batman. Batman reached into his utility belt and pulled out a gun-like object. He pulled its trigger and a dart connected to a powerful rope glided through the air, finally reaching one of the support beams at the top of the warehouse. Batman grabbed onto the beam and contemplated on what to do next.  
  
Bane grabbed one of the boxes, and threw one of them at Batman. Batman dived away from it. This caused him to fall off the beam. He grabbed the beam and held on for dear life. Bane smiled and moved toward the wall. He started punching the wall with unbelievable force. This punch shook the entire warehouse, including the support beam. Batman was dangling from the beam, unable to swing back up again, because of Bane's powerful, shock- sending punches. He reached for his utility belt one last time. He took out a rope connected to a batarang. He would have used the grapple gun, but it was dangling from the ceiling, and it would be foolish trying to get it back, for Batman would only fall. He attached the batarang to the metal beam, and eased down quickly.  
  
Bane grabbed Batman just before the dark knight reached the floor. He hugged him tighter and tighter, Batman unable to break free. He could feel his rips turning with a life of their own under the pressure. Suddenly, a kick met Bane in the head. Then another. Bane released Batman from his grip, and turned toward this new assailant. The dark, lithe figure, was undoubtedly Catwoman. But it could not have been her. Batman had seen her kill herself whilst electrocuting Max Shreck, the man who had tried to kill her. It must be someone pretending to be her, Batman thought.  
  
Catwoman grabbed the pipe connecting to Bane's head, and pulled it out. Red liquid sprayed in all directions, and Bane went limp and frail. Batman socked him hard in the jaw, and kicked him in the face. Bane fell down on the ground with a thud.  
  
Catwoman climbed to the top of a pile of boxes, and used her cat-o-nine- tails to climb out of the warehouse, via the broken skylight.  
  
"Wait!" Batman ushered, but it was too late.  
  
The police entered into the warehouse, and saw Batman with the unconscious Bane.  
  
"Well done," Commissioner Gordon said sadly, as paramedics wrapped up the bodies of the dead SWAT officers, and the kamikaze gangster. "What's in the boxes?" The Commissioner asked, trying to change the subject.  
  
Batman turned around, and opened one of them. Inside was a grenade launcher, fitted in polystyrene.  
  
"They're off the street now," Batman frowned.  
  
"At least one good thing came out of all of this." Gordon said optimistically.  
  
Batman then walked out through the paramedics, to his batmobile.  
  
A nervous woman was walking through a slum area later that night. She hated having to take this route home, but it took ten minutes off of her journey. She looked around herself anxiously. In the corner of the street was an old woman sleeping peacefully. While looking at this woman, she tripped over a trashcan, knocking it over. Rats scurried out of it, finally free after having run into it that morning. The woman yelped slightly at the sight of the rats. She moved briskly along. The sooner she got out of this district, the sooner she would get home.  
  
Suddenly, a beady man who had been watching her from the shadows leapt out and pinned her against the wall.  
  
"Please!" She pleaded.  
  
The man smiled at her, with cold, blank eyes. He was trying to pull her top off of her. The woman tried to fight back, eventually opting to slam her foot against the mugger's. The mugger screamed in pain, and reached for a knife in his pocket. He was about to drive it into her, when from behind, someone grabbed him by the hair. It was a woman. A Catwoman.  
  
Catwoman spun the man around, and grabbed him by the neck. She kicked him in the groin, and he screamed again. She scraped him with the claws that were attached to her gloves. She then punched him hard in the face. The mugger ran away as fast as he possibly could.  
  
The woman was too terrified to run. She knew what Catwoman was capable of. She had come across her before, the previous Christmas. Catwoman attacked a mugger who was robbing her, and then taunted the woman.  
  
Catwoman recognized the woman. It was the same woman she had come across on the night that she had become Catwoman for the first time. But that was a different time. Selina had problems back then. But not anymore.  
  
"Please...don't hurt me!" The woman pleaded.  
  
"I'm not going to hurt you," Catwoman explained. "Now go!"  
  
The woman ran away as fast as she could.  
  
Catwoman smiled. She enjoyed protecting the little guy. That would be her new purpose. She turned around; about to run away, when suddenly, a Kevlar enforced glove grabbed her by the wrist.  
  
She looked up and saw Batman. But he looked sad.  
  
"Selina?" He asked.  
  
"No!" She cried. "I can't!" She back flipped away.  
  
She grappled her cat-o-nine-tails onto the fire escape of the building next to her, and climbed up the stairs as fast as she could.  
  
Batman took scaled the ladder as fast as he could, to catch up with Selina. He could not let her get away. Not again.  
  
He found her waiting for her on top of the building. She was panting, and crying at the same time.  
  
"No...Bruce..." She cried, "I can't. Girls like me don't deserve men like you!"  
  
"Selina, please," Batman pleaded, "I need you. We need to be together,"  
  
He held out his hand to her. "Please."  
  
His hand was met with a crackling smack at the hands of her cat-o-nine- tails, and she jumped away onto the next building, as fast as she could. Batman jumped after her, as she continued to run away from him. Batman ran after her, intent on retrieving the woman he truly loved.  
  
Catwoman came to the edge of the building. The next building was too far away to jump to.  
  
"I'm on my last life..." She panted. "I won't make it,"  
  
"Don't jump," Batman instructed, "be careful."  
  
Suddenly, he watched as Catwoman allowed her feet to bend back behind her. Batman ran up to grab her, but by the time she had totally fallen from the building, she was nowhere to be seen.  
  
Catwoman was holding onto the window ledge of the building, while above, Batman was continuously looking out for her.  
  
It was no use as far as Batman saw it. Either Selina had escaped again, or she was dead, for good. But there was no way Batman could believe the latter. Selina always landed on her feet. He knew that she was still alive.  
  
Batman ran back toward the building beside where the batmobile was situated. He leapt in and drove back to his sanctuary: The Batcave.  
  
The black thunderbolt continued driving towards Wayne Manor, which underneath housed the Batcave. Batman was staring into space; not truly concentrating on what he was doing, when suddenly, a beeping sound distracted him. He looked down to his video screen, where he saw the words 'Incoming Transmission' flashing. He pressed the button under the screen, and Bruce Wayne's butler and closest friend Alfred appeared on the screen.  
  
"Good evening sir," He smiled.  
  
Batman did not respond.  
  
"Mister Wayne? Is there something wrong?"  
  
"What?" Batman finally answered.  
  
"Are you all right?" Alfred asked.  
  
"Selina Kyle's still alive," Batman told Alfred.  
  
"Oh," Alfred frowned. "I take it Ms Kyle has been roaming the streets in that ghastly uniform again?"  
  
"That's right." Batman answered.  
  
In the earlier hours of the morning, the time when Bruce would usually go to sleep, he was still wide-awake. He could not help thinking about Selina and the other happenings of the night. One good thing that came out of all of this was that Bane was off the streets. But for how long? It was obvious that he would not be let out the legal way, but it would be only too easy for Thorne's thugs to break him out before being transferred to State Penitentiary. He climbed up out of bed. There was no use in trying to get to sleep. He put on his clothes, and went downstairs to the vast Wayne Manor hall. He went into his living room, and went over to a large fish tank with a miniature model of Wayne Manor inside. He reached in and pulled on a tiny switch on the model. The strange coffin object leaning against the wall in the shape of an Aztec opened up. Bruce went inside and waited. He watched as the spikes inside the coffin reversed back into the inside of the coffin. Then a hatch underneath Bruce gave way, and he slid through into the Batcave. He walked over to the batcomputer, and switched on the monitors. Displayed on the screens were Gotham Globe pictures of Rupert Thorne and a select few of Bane. He pressed a button on the keyboard, and a television station was shown on the screen. It was Action News Gotham City's highest rated news program.  
  
"The city was stunned last night to see the mysterious reappearance of the cat-woman after her supposed suicide six months ago. The police are issuing an arrest warrant to get the criminal off the streets. Peter-" The camera spun around to the female reporter's co-anchor.  
  
Bruce saw an artist's rendering of Catwoman in the corner of the screen, turn into a grainy photograph of Bane.  
  
"Thanks Jill; a South American terrorist was arrested last night after taking the lives of several rival gangsters who were trying to steal the terrorist's employer's contriband. The police are questioning him as to who owned the contriband."  
  
A beady man with headphones ran on screen and handed a sheet of paper to Peter.  
  
"This just in-" Peter said worriedly, "this same terrorist has escaped jail, and killed seven guards in Gotham State Prison."  
  
A mug shot of bane (minus his mask) appeared on the screen.  
  
"Anyone who spots this man is urged to call the crisis hotline immediately." The number for the crisis hotline appeared under Peter.  
  
That night, in a penthouse previously owned by Carl Grissom, Rupert Thorne sat at the top of a conference table talking to a group of the biggest hoods in the whole of Gotham City. He stood up.  
  
"Gentlemen," he started, "in the past we have had our differences," he chuckled.  
  
On numerous occasions this same man had murdered quite a few of these gangsters' men. It was all a game to him.  
  
"but I still believe, that together, with all of our resources, our knowledge," he placed his hands smoothly back on the table and placed his cigar in his mouth. "that we could run this city into the ground."  
  
The mobsters looked around them confusedly. Was he actually proposing an alliance? Was he trying to team up with the people he regularly tried to kill?  
  
"What do you say?" Thorne asked.  
  
He snapped his fingers and out came a butler. He handed out contracts to all of the gangsters.  
  
"What's the catch?" One of them asked, leafing through the terms and conditions of the contract.  
  
"There is no catch," Thorne smiled, "whatever we get goes out to all living members of the group." He smiled sinfully. "How does that sound?"  
  
After further persuasion, the mobsters signed the contracts.  
  
"This better not be a double-cross Thorne," One of them said as he handed the contract to Thorne.  
  
"You don't have to worry," Thorne said, "you'll all be taken care of very well."  
  
"Huh?" The sceptical mobster thought. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"I mean we're all going to have dinner downstairs!" Thorne smiled. "Isn't that right Jarvis?" Thorne asked his butler.  
  
"Yes sir," the young, suspicious looking waiter said to Thorne, "I'll bring up the main course right away."  
  
Jarvis returned with several chefs. They had a large cart with all of the food on it. There was a plump, juicy turkey, vegetables, yams, and many other delicious food options. The chefs (aided by Jarvis) proceeded to fill the table with the food. They then placed knives and forks down where the gangsters sat.  
  
"This smells great!" One of the mobsters said. "Great job here Thorne!"  
  
Jarvis then poured wine out for all of the guests. After a few bites of the turkey, the mobsters went straight for the wine.  
  
"Very thirsty," one of them said. They drank up the wine and continued eating.  
  
Later, Bane and Thorne looked over the dead bodies of the biggest hoods in the city. Jarvis and the cooking crew had placed rat poison in the food, and then the wine. And since Thorne had them sign contracts before they ate, all of their employees were now his.  
  
"Ingenious," Bane complimented Thorne, "couldn't have done better myself."  
  
"Thanks," Thorne answered, "now let's get to work."  
  
The Batmobile streaked through the streets of Gotham. Batman was searching for Bane like a man possessed. During his search, he managed to stop a mugging, foil a bombing, and catch a burglar, but still no Bane.  
  
At the end of the night, Batman was heading home, when he saw the bat signal pierce through the sky. He flipped a switch on the dashboard, and a huge press-like object, pushed the Batmobile up and then spun it around one hundred and eighty degrees. Batman then drove toward police headquarters as fast as he could.  
  
Commissioner Gordon was waiting for Batman atop the Police Headquarters building.  
  
"What is it?" Batman asked.  
  
"We've found him," Gordon said.  
  
"Where?" Batman asked.  
  
"Anonymous tip told us to go to Gotham Harbour. There we found three men filling a yacht with crates. After a while, he came out of the yacht. We got a sound system set up there, but it went out an hour ago. We sent a SWAT team to see what was going on, but we haven't heard from them since,"  
  
Gordon handed a picture to Batman. It was a large yacht.  
  
"The weapons," Batman deduced, "he's going to sell them on international waters. More money in Thorne's pocket and it's legal."  
  
Gordon turned around.  
  
"I'll go and get that other file," he said.  
  
He walked over to a table, and picked up a file. He turned around to give it to Batman, but he was gone.  
  
Later, the new batsub was whizzing under the waters of Gotham harbour. The yacht was zooming by above, heading for international waters. Batman was planning on entering the yacht secretly, and throwing Bane into the water before he could get a shot at Batman.  
  
"Yacht is currently two feet away," Alfred's recorded voice said as Batman approached the yacht.  
  
Batman gently brought the mini submarine to the surface, getting closer and closer to the yacht. He opened the hatch above him, and waited for just the right moment to hop onto the yacht.  
  
At just the right time, Batman leaped onto the yacht, and jabbed his two forefingers into the hood guarding the back of the yacht as hard as he could. The guard fell down, unconscious. Batman moved through the yacht slowly. He saw Rupert Thorne sitting in the front smiling happily at his achievement. Beside him Bane observed the captain of the ship as he continued to bring the ship into international waters.  
  
Batman decided to make his move. He tossed a smoke bomb into the centre of the room. Thick layers of smoke filled this part of the yacht. Batman grabbed the captain and socked him in the face. Thorne went to punch him, but Batman grabbed his hand and punched him in the nose. Thorne fell to the ground with a bleeding nose. Suddenly, Batman felt a steel hand grab him by the neck. Even through the smoke he could see Bane's evil red eyes. It would be no use trying to use a flash bang here; the smoke would neutralize it. Batman had not anticipated this. He took out a small, prototype- shocking device. He attached it to Bane, and smiled. Batman slammed his fist into the blue button on the shocking device, and shocks of electricity went through Bane. He released his grip on Batman, and Batman punched Bane hard in the face, causing him to fall backward. Batman ran into the cargo room. Crates and crates of weapons were stacked here. Batman would not let these weapons plague other states, or countries. He would have to commandeer the yacht back to the shore.  
  
Suddenly, Batman was met by a startling whack in the backs of his knees. He heard a sickening laugh even as he fell to the ground. Bane picked the limp body of Batman, and placed Batman's back on his massive knee and pressed hard against either side of his body.  
  
Batman could feel his back about to break. Bane laughed his head off, knowing that Batman would die a slow and painful death at his hands. Batman reached for his utility belt but Bane smacked him hard on his fingers. Suddenly, Bane was met by a whack from behind. Something pulled the pipe out of his head, causing Bane to go momentarily limp. This person then kicked Bane in the back, causing a cracking sound. Bane fell to the ground, unconscious.  
  
Catwoman grabbed Batman's arm and hoisted him up onto his feet. She then brought him outside to a waiting boat. The unconscious bodies of Rupert Thorne and the yacht captain were sprawled in the boat.  
  
Batman stayed conscious just long enough to see Thorne's yacht blow up. With the explosion, the life of possibly the greatest living weapon of mass destruction in the world was taken. Batman felt unhappy that he had not found a way to spare his life but felt slightly relieved that under no circumstance could Bane escape death.  
  
Soon after, Thorne was taken into custody. Commissioner Gordon told the wounded Batman that it would be unlikely if Thorne did not get at least ten to twenty years.  
  
Later that night, Batman and Catwoman were alone on top of a building.  
  
"When are you leaving?" Batman asked.  
  
"My plane is in two hours," she answered.  
  
"Selina," he started.  
  
"Yes?" She asked,  
  
"Don't go. We need each other,"  
  
"I have to go Bruce," she said looking away from him. "I need to start a new life, away from...this." She pointed at her costume. "The only reason I put it back on again was to make up for what I did in the past."  
  
Batman was not going to argue. Selina did kill Max Shreck, however evil he was. But Batman could not say that he was any better than her. Years before, he had taken the life of the Joker. He regretted this every day of his life. Killing the Joker was not a punishment. Batman would much rather have seen the murderer of his parents rot in a prison cell forevermore.  
  
She walked over to the edge of the building, and leaped off. Knowing her, she would land on her feet.  
  
THE END 


End file.
